The countdown has begun for the launching of India's first IRNSS satellite, intended to form India's own local version of GPS:

The next launch after this one will be the GSLV-D5 which will once again try to prove the indigenously made Cryogenic Upper Stage engine, something that has eluded ISRO thusfar. It will be carrying GSAT14 into orbit. And the next launch after that one will be the Mars Orbiter Mission to send the Mangalyaan probe to Mars.

Generally we avoid writing on the internal developments in India. The reason is that however much we may try to be objective, yet it is likely to misconstrued as supporting one party or other. Mr. Upadhyay has consistently been writing on the dangers of "vote bank politics" that is being practised by almost all parties in India.

To me, it appears that he is fighting a losing battle. So long as we have the "first past the post" system where the winner takes all, vote bank politics will continue to play havoc with our democracy. Demonising an individual as Hitler or an Asura will not help. Confront him with your own ideas on the political, economic and governance fronts.

Upadhyay's opinion is his own and not that of South Asia Analysis Group. Director

The incessant and the longest running hate campaign against Narendra Modi launched by the secularists, caste-ists, communists, religious extremists and left-liberal NGOs, social activists, media and academics since the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 suggest that the political class which cannot think beyond the vote bank politics are scared of Modi-phobia as the latter seems to have posed a challenge to the prevailing political culture in the country. He is perhaps viewed as the anti-thesis of this politics.

The entire discourse of this individual-centric hate politics is first of its kind in the political history of post-British India. Ram Jethmalani in his article in on line Sunday Guardian observed, "No politician in independent India has been demonised in such a relentless, Goebbelsian manner as Narendra Modi, and no politician has withstood it with as much resilience and courage as him, notwithstanding the entire Central government, influential sections of the media machinery and civil society arraigned against him" (http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/the-rise-and-rise-of-tomorrows-p...

Leaving apart the much deadly communal history of Muslim and British India, hundreds of riots have taken place all over India. But none of them created the "individual centric hate politics" we witness today on the Gujarat riots.

Take for instance the 2012 communal riots in Assam. The Bodo-Muslim clash in August 2012 resulted in thousands of victims killed or uprooted from their houses. The Chief Minister of Assam is said to have delayed the deployment of Army, but no one launched any hate campaign against him.

The height of hate campaign was seen in Kerala in April last when Congress and Communist leaders refused to attend Sivagiri Mutt event for which Modi was invited. But the people thought it otherwise and a large number attended..

Though the hate journey against Modi though started in 2002, its upsurge was noticed at national level after his ascension as election campaign chief of the BJP

followed by the break of the 17-year old Janata Dal (United) and the Bhartiya Janata Party alliance which ended the coalition government in Bihar.

Whether Narendra Modi will be the next Prime Minister or not is not the issue here. It is not my concern either. But what pains me is the systematic "hate" campaign being mounted when he is projecting himself as an efficient and pro development politician.

A divisive politics with a strong divisive hate campaign is not good for Indian democracy. It is a danger to India's trusted faith in secularism. For these politicians the Gujarat riots alone matter and nothing else.

Vote bank is a political reality in secular India since Independence and has in fact become a part of the vocabulary of Indian politics. With the spread of regionalism, proliferation of political parties and unprincipled alliances, elections in India are hardly contested on the basis of political ideology.

Almost all the political parties have used this vote bank politics according to their political convenience. Although, its character varies from state to state on the basis of caste, ethnicity, language and regional factors, unfortunately only the Muslims are being targeted. May be that though they may not be in a position to win the seats by themselves but they are in a position to tilt the electoral balance in a number of constituencies. Hence the community is being wooed though one may wish that some senior leader of the community could get up and say "Leave us alone."

Muslims constitute about 15 percent of country's population. With over 20 % of electorate in 95 Lok Sabha constituencies (Electoral Politics and General Elections in India 1952-98 by M. L.Ahuja, 1998, Page 277), they are said to have the potential to play a decisive role in the outcome. This is what makes them easy prey to vote bank politics of other parties.

Initially, the Congress inherited this divisive politics from the colonial rulers and maintained its monopoly over Muslim votes for many years and remained in power.

Subsequently, following the footsteps of the Congress most of the political parties also emerged as champions for the cause of protecting the religious identity. They raised issues like Muslim personal law, article 370, Urdu language, Ayodhya and now Narendra Modi but never offered any remedial solution for the modernised education for the Muslim masses. Instead, to allure the community they bribe some hand- picked Islamists with foreign ancestry by offering some share in political power. Understanding the weakness of the political parties, these Islamists consolidated the community into a reserve vote bank and became its self made directors.

The RJD in Bihar and SP in Uttar Pradesh, which could emerge as a political force on the basis of caste and vote bank politics of minorities took advantage of the situation and aggressively propagated against the danger of communalism from the majority community. The Muslims of these States found in them as the saviours of their religious identity

With the objective to break the Muslim- Yadav alliance of Lalu Yadav who ruled Bihar for fifteen years, the BJP having influence in upper castes joined hands with Janata Dal (U) under the leadership of Nitish Kumar who consolidated the none-Yadava backward castes and won over the Muslims with the same strategy of winning over the leaders of the Muslims belonging to the ajlaf (low born Muslims) who constitute a much larger percentage of the community in the country. Thus with the support of extremely backward castes, caste Hindus and the Ajlafs, the BJP and JD (U) alliance came to power in Bihar since 2005.

It is the allure of the vote bank politics that has influenced Nitish Kumar to breakaway from the NDA and go on his own hoping that the minority community would vote for him in the next general elections. It is too early now to predict how the minorities would vote for him or not in next Lok Sabha election, but he is taking a chance!

It is a pity that the political leadership in Independent India never took serious note to resolve the consistent bitter relation between the two major religious communities. On one hand the political parties continuously scared the community against the imaginary danger to their religious identity at the hands of the Hindu nationalists and on the other the leaders of the community never allowed them to integrate in Indian society. Modernisation of Muslims which is a key to development was never an issue of concern for either the political or community leadership of the country.

A section in the community might have full faith in democracy but their voice is so feeble and weak that they are unable to bring out their community from their religion-centric identity. In a wider context of Indian society, modernisation of Muslims is possible only with their modernised education. But assertive institutionalisation of the communal distinctiveness by their leaders obstructed them to think independently about their overall development as a part of Indian society as a whole.

Indian politics has changed over the past decades. New generations of political leaders have emerged, but the status of Muslims in India remains virtually unchanged. The community has not seen any perceptible improvement as the largest minority in the country. Progress in the fields of sports, entertainment and, to some extent, in education is the result of individual talent, efforts, and support from private organizations. The government's contribution to these individual successes appears to be almost nil.

The level of education is consistently low in the Muslim community, especially among the female population for which they are themselves responsible.The Union minorities affairs minister K Rahman Khan during his interview with Saudi Gazette (January 5, 2013) honestly blamed Indian Muslims themselves for their educational backwardness. Citing the example of civil services examination taken by about 400,000 candidates every year he said that not even 4,000 Muslims sit this exam but secure about 40 out of 700-800 successful candidates.

The purpose of democratic system is to stimulate competition, increase prosperity and improve standards of living. Political parties playing vote .bank politics generously dispense freebies to minorities for their votes, but, it is very important for the people to understand that every benefit has its cost. These donated benefits make them and their future generation barren, less motivated, uncompetitive and, eventually, permanently dependent on government handouts. In a democratic system, most people make their own choices and they flourish and prosper. However, there are people who don't mind being the victims of vote bank politics, and this is the second biggest pitfall of democratic system.

The pro-development politics of Modi is a new development and should not be dismissed off hand. If it could break the trend of the strong vote bank politics, it will be a great contribution to Indian democracy, no matter whether he wins or loses.

A new phenomenon where men kidnap 10-16-year-old girls from minority communities and force them to sign declarations that they are adults and wish to change their religion to Islam to get married

Human rights groups and NGOs are calling for more action to be taken to prevent a spate of abductions and rapes of women, who have reportedly also then been forced to convert to Islam as part of a "carefully-planned" strategy to reduce support for victims from their communities after the crime is perpetrated.

Prima (not her real name), a sixth grader from Gazipur's Tongi area, was abducted on her way back from school on April 6 this year.

Law enforcers found her 55 days later at a hotel in Cox's Bazaar. She had been raped repeatedly by some boys from her locality during the period and was forced to convert her religion from Hinduism to Islam and marry one of the perpetrators, Rabiul Hossein Manik.

Experts say Prima's traumatic experience was not an isolated case, but part of a new phenomenon where men kidnap 10-16year old girls from minority communities and force them to sign declarations that they are adults and wish to change their religion to Islam to get married.

Experts have termed the forced changes of religion as a "carefully-planned" step designed to ensure that the victims do not receive the support of their communities and to leave scope for the criminals to get away without punishment.

"It is only natural that the perpetrators of such crime would want to ensure that the victim cannot go back to her community or get its support. So they have devised this strategy and by forcing her to change her religion, they effectively ensure the victim cannot escape and go back and that no steps are taken by her community to free her and take her back," Advocate Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), explained to the Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.

However, there is no sign of concrete steps being taken by the government or social organisations for curbing these attacks or to rehabilitate the victims.

The distress of the victims is evident in a letter sent to her father by Kakoli Haider (not her real name). The 13-year-old was asleep in her bed when five Muslim men invaded and vandalised their home a year back. She screamed and fought back only to be easily overpowered by the criminals who took her away.

Three months later, she communicated with her parents through a letter to her father where she said she felt like dying as the criminals had forced her to convert to Islam and one of them had married her in a ruse to 'legalise' their crime.

Ranu Saha (not her real name), a 16-year-old Hindu girl, was also victimised in a similar incident last year. She was abducted from where she was staying with her brother in Patuakhali's Bauphal area and was similarly forced to convert by the criminals.

In recent years, the alarming rate of increase in violence against women has forced the government to enact stringent measures via the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2002 (amended 2003), Acid Control Act 2002 and Domestic Violence (Prevention & Protection) Act 2010.

However experts feel that the situation has barely improved and are calling for the government to put more effort in training law enforcers to deal with these types of crime.

"We can never overstate the relevance of legislation for control of crime and violence. However, on its own, legislation will have no bearing if it is not enforced," Action Aid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir said in her reaction to the inhuman attack on Prima.

She pointed out that law enforcers initially refuse to accept kidnapping charges in such incidents and try to tag such crimes as love affairs. They overlook the issue of forced conversion which is "very unfortunate."

Bangladesh Mohila Parishad President Ayesha Khanam said enacting more laws would not address the problem. "We, therefore, need to identify the root causes first and then formulate a better strategy to overcome the problem."

When questioned about why the parishad has not taken any step yet, Ayesha said, "We are trying to observe the situation. We will take effective step."

State minister of women affairs, Meher Afroz Chumky said gender sensitisation and issues of women rights and equality should be included in the present education system. She added the media could play an important role in creating awareness and in calling on law enforcers to properly attend to the victims. "We will communicate with the home ministry to solve these problems."

a very good start to reform would be exile both dreze and sen-rothschild and disband the NAC. these faux-economists and other nehruvian stalinists have committed a crime against humanity by forcing 500 million people, some of the most industrious in the world, to struggle in utter poverty while the stalinists themselves have prospered.

let me reiterate once more that sen-rothschild's 'kerala model' is pure bunkum. so is his emerging 'bihar model'. but these are convenient for white guys whose primary idea for india is conversion of the pagans to serve as cannon fodder in their inevitable clash to the finish with their semitic brothers.

At this writing, Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive National Security Agency contractor indicted on espionage charges, is in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin's spokesman insists his government is powerless to detain him. "We have nothing to do with this story," says Dmitri Peskov. "I don't approve or disapprove plane tickets."

Funny how Mr. Putin always seems to discover his inner civil libertarian when it's an opportunity to humiliate the United States. When the Russian government wants someone off Russian soil, it either removes him from it or puts him under it. Just ask investor Bill Browder, who was declared persona non grata when he tried to land in Moscow in November 2005. Or think of Mr. Browder's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, murdered by Russian prison officials four years later.

Mr. Snowden arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong, where local officials refused a U.S. arrest request, supposedly on grounds it "did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." That's funny, too, since Mr. Snowden had been staying in a Chinese government safe house before Beijing gave the order to ignore the U.S. request and let him go.

"The Hong Kong government didn't have much of a role," Albert Ho, a Hong Kong legislator, told Reuters. "Its role was to receive instructions to not stop him at the airport."

Now Mr. Snowden may be on his way to Havana, or Caracas, or Quito. It's been said often enough that this so-called transparency crusader remains free thanks to the cheek and indulgence of dictatorships and strongmen. It's also been said that his case illustrates how little has been achieved by President Obama's "reset" with Moscow, or with his California schmoozing of China's Xi Jinping earlier this month.

But however the Snowden episode turns out (and don't be surprised if the Russians wind up handing him over in exchange for an unspecified American favor), what it mainly illustrates is that we are living in an age of American impotence. The Obama administration has decided it wants out from nettlesome foreign entanglements, and now finds itself surprised that it's running out of foreign influence.

That is the larger significance of last week's Afghan diplomatic debacle, in which the Taliban opened an office in Doha for the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"—the name Mullah Omar grandiloquently gave his regime in Kabul before its 2001 downfall. Afghan President Hamid Karzai responded by shutting down negotiations with the U.S. over post-2014 security cooperation.

Now the U.S. finds itself in an amazing position. Merely to get the Taliban to the table for a bogus peace process, the administration agreed at Pakistan's urging to let Mullah Omar come to the table on his owns terms: no acceptance of the Afghan Constitution, no cease-fire with international forces, not even a formal pledge to never again allow Afghanistan to become a haven for international terrorism. The U.S. also agreed, according to Pakistani sources, to allow the terrorist Haqqani network—whose exploits include the 2011 siege of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul—a seat at the table.

Yet having legitimized Haqqani and given the Taliban everything it wanted in exchange for nothing, the U.S. finds itself being dumped by its own client government in Kabul, which can always turn to Iran as a substitute patron. Incredible: no peace, no peace process, no ally, no leverage and no moral standing, all in a single stroke. John Kerry is off to quite a start.

What's happening in Afghanistan is of a piece with the larger pattern of U.S. diplomacy. Iraq? The administration made the complete withdrawal of our troops a cornerstone of its first-term foreign policy, and now finds itself surprised that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won't lift a finger to prevent Iranian cargo planes from overflying his airspace en route to resupplying Bashar Assad's military. Syria? President Obama spent two years giving the country's civil war the widest berth, creating the power vacuum in which Iran, Hezbollah and Russia may soon achieve their strategic goals.

And Iran: In 2003, Tehran briefly halted its secret nuclear-weapons work and agreed to suspend its enrichment activities, at least for a few months. Yet since then, every U.S. effort to persuade Iran to alter its nuclear course has failed. Is it because the Obama administration was insufficiently solicitous, patient, or eager for a deal? Or is it that Tehran believes that treating this administration with contempt carries little cost?

"America can't do a damn thing against us" was a maxim of the Iranian revolution in its early days when America meant Jimmy Carter. Under President Obama, the new maxim could well be "America won't do a damn thing."

Which brings us back to the Snowden file. Speaking from India, Mr. Kerry offered a view on what it would mean for Russia to allow him to flee. "Disappointing," said our 68th secretary of state. He added "there would be without any question some effect and impact on the relationship and consequences."

Rent boy scandal rocks the Vatican

THE Vatican is bracing itself for a rent boy scandal after a convicted pedophile priest apparently sought vengeance by informing on other child abusers in the Roman clergy.

Don Patrizio Poggi, who served a five-year sentence for abusing five 14 and 15-year-old boys at his parish on the outskirts of the Italian capital, has reportedly handed names to police. So far, four people have formally been placed under investigation by Rome magistrates.

The suspects are said to include a monsignor who is currently the secretary of an important bishop. Also being investigated is a former Carabinieri police officer suspected of recruiting under-age boys for the alleged prostitution ring.

The brewing scandal comes just weeks after Pope Francis confirmed the existence of a "gay lobby" in the Vatican to a visiting Latin American church group.

The apparent network inside the supposedly celibate and staunchly anti-homosexual Church is one reason why Pope Francis is working on a thorough house-cleaning of the Roman curia. Vatican watchers believe a far-reaching reshuffle of top posts is imminent. Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, current head of the governorate that runs the Vatican city-state, is tipped to take over from the powerful but divisive Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The latest scandal traces its roots to the criminal case against Poggi, now 46, who was convicted in 1999 of abusing boys at his St Philip Neri church in the Rome suburb of Primavalle.

After serving his sentence, the disgraced priest sought reinstatement by the Vatican but was denied a post. In revenge, he is said to have gone to police with one of the alleged "rent boys" serving priests.

According to Italian press reports, Poggi named 20 people as being involved in the prostitution ring.

In a major victory for Reliance Industries, the Union Cabinet approved doubling of natural gas prices to $8.4 per million BTUs from April, 2014. Steep hikes in Power tariffs and fertilizer prices to ensue.

Dr. Ludwig and his colleagues recruited a dozen
obese men and fed them milkshakes on two different occasions
separated by several weeks. On one
occasion, the shakes were made with high-glycemic corn syrup; on the
other, a source of low-glycemic carbohydrates was used.

What they found was that four hours
after drinking the high-glycemic shake, blood sugar levels had plummeted
into the hypoglycemic range, the subjects reported more hunger, and
brain scans showed greater activation in parts of the brain that
regulate cravings, reward and addictive behaviors.

A Charge sheet against the UPA government and its remote control chief.

(1) UPA government follows pro-terrorist policies.

The first major decision of the UPA government after coming to power in 2004 was the abolition of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). When the jihadi terror was becoming deadlier, and Maoist movement was making steady inroads into all remote and tribal areas in the country, what was the need and logic behind abolishing a tough anti-terror law like the POTA? It was the first and clear signal to show that the UPA government wanted to be helpful to terrorists and all other anti-national forces. The UPA government, taking the side of foreign-funded NGO and human rights activists, has also been trying to abolish the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states. However it could not be done so far, only due to stiff resistance from the army which considers the AFSPA as a very vital tool for their effective operation in the disturbed areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East region.

(2) Sonia Gandhi opposes anti-terror laws.

After the terror attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, there was tremendous pressure from various security agencies and political leaders, including some prominent members within the UPA government, for enacting a new anti-terror law to effectively deal with the worsening security situation in the country. However a powerful group of pro-militant Sonia loyalists within the UPA still resisted the move for any such new anti-terror law. According to a report published in the English daily "The Indian Express" dated October 2, 2008, a stringent anti-terror law recommended by the Administrative Reforms Commission was rejected by the UPA government because of opposition from Sonia Gandhi who felt that there was no need for any new anti-terror law as the existing laws were sufficient to deal with terrorism. It confirms that Sonia Gandhi herself has an anti-national mindset.

(3) UPA government is sympathetic to separatists in Kashmir.

The UPA government has adopted a pro-separatist policy in Jammu & Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government's decision not to permit hoisting of the tri-colour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the Republic Day in 2010 had the approval of the UPA government. The government's explanation for this serious lapse was that the hoisting of the national flag would be an unnecessary provocation to the separatists in the state. Flag hoisting on Republic Day was taking place at Lal Chowk for the past 19 years. It was former BJP president Murali Manohar Joshi who 19 years ago took out an Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar to hoist the tri-colour at Lal Chowk. Now, to please the separatists in Kashmir valley, the UPA government has stopped the flag-hoisting ceremony at Lal Chowk in Srinagar

... deleted

(33) UPA government's war on Indian economy.

The UPA government's various so-called welfare schemes meant for the poor have done irreparable damage to the Indian economy. Take for instance, the loan waiver scheme. While it is necessary to address the genuine grievances of the farmers, resorting to unethical and undesirable solutions like the loan-waiver scheme would only be counter-productive. The very concept of loan-waiver is highly regressive and objectionable. It makes the honest farmers who have paid back their loans look like fools while the dishonest ones are rewarded. The loan-waiver scheme has not stopped farmers' suicide in the country, but it has caused considerable damage to the country's economy.

UPA government's so-called flagship programmes like MGNREGS, UID-cash transfer scheme, free housing for the poor, the food security scheme and all such welfare schemes would only further ensure the destruction of Indian economy. Thousands of mega development projects in the country are presently stalled or delayed over issues like land acquisition problems, rehabilitation of project-affected people, agitation by local villagers and NGO activists or for want of environmental clearance. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, when he was the environment and forest minister, had declared that that the various development projects in the country would not get the necessary green clearance unless a comprehensive impact assessment is done on every such project. Though his declaration was welcomed by the NGO and environmental activists, this environment impact assessment exercise, in effect, was delaying all infrastructure development projects in India. In 2009, road transport minister Kamal Nath, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and water resources minister Pawan Bansal had reportedly complained to the Prime Minister against the environment ministry headed by Jairam Ramesh for deliberately delaying various developmental projects by withholding environmental clearances. The prime minister had then asked the Planning Commission to come up with a process that will give faster clearance to infrastructure projects. However, despite the prime minister's intervention, no concrete steps were taken to expedite the environmental clearance process. The anti-development lobby in India which is engaged in blocking all developmental projects in the country, is supported and financed by various western and church agencies. The government of India is very well aware of the activities and intentions of the western agencies involved in such disruptive activities in India. In fact in 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had lashed out against some US and Scandinavian NGOs involved in abetting agitation against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. This emboldened Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha to act against those who were inciting the local villagers against the Koodankulam project, paving the way for resumption of work at the project. In the same way, the work on all other stalled and delayed projects in the country can also be resumed in a matter of days, if the prime minister so desires. But the hitch is that the anti-development lobby, backed by Jairam Ramesh and National Advisory Council, enjoys the patronage of Sonia Gandhi.

As a result of the criminal misdeeds of the UPA government, India's growth has slowed to a decade low of 5% while the industrial output has slowed to a 20-year low of 1% in 2012-13.The exports have slumped and the rupee has fallen to Rs 59 per dollar. It appears that the UPA government has declared a war on India's economy. What else can explain the logic and meaning of the disastrous policies of the UPA government? Meanwhile Pakistan has given a new dimension to the war on Indian economy by bulk-printing of fake Indian currency in the government facilities in Pakistan and circulating the same in various Indian cities with the help of Dawood Ibrahim and his gang. Printing and circulating the currency of another country is an act of war. And, we respond to this undeclared war by our hostile neighbour by stressing the need further efforts for promoting peace and friendship with Pakistan.

"Does metaphysics underlie the devastation of Uttarakhand? Locals ascribe the disaster to the removal of the presiding Mother Kali image, prior to submergence of the revered Dhari Devi shrine by the Srinagar hydro-electric dam on Alakananda, on June 15. This was a day before the cloud burst and flash flood devastated the Kedar valley and lower reaches. The shrine, built upon a sacred mound in the river, is listed among the 108 Shaktipeeths in Srimad Devi Bhagwat. The upper half of the image was housed in the shrine while the remnant, in the form of Sri Yantra, is worshipped at Kalimath.

On June 15th, 2013, the idol of Dhara Devī was removed to be shifted to another location to facilitate the construction of the same dam, which locals were opposing ever since the conception of the project with the belief that the moving of the Dhara Devī would somehow agitate Kali. They were right in their belief as any movement would lead to a change in the angle of the Dhara Devī and Kālimaṭh, besides altering the distance. There are energies we human beings do not understand as yet and it is best to let these spiritual shrines where these energies are contain, be maintained. Previously, in 1882, an attempt to shift the shrine was immediately followed by havoc in Kedar Valley."

Both Modi and Kumar have lost few opportunities to highlight the growth trajectories of their respective states 26/6/13

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), leader Nitish Kumar have been running a long battle to capture the national imagination with their respective "governance models". The dramatic break-up between the JD (U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last week—after the BJP virtually nominated Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election—has only sharpened the battle lines.

Both Modi and Kumar have lost few opportunities to highlight the growth trajectories of their respective states, and their key role in transforming the destinies of Gujarat and Bihar, respectively. Both have also attracted global attention for their respective "growth models". Kumar has not only positioned himself as a secular alternative to Modi but has also sought to stress the inclusiveness of Bihar's growth model. In his intervention during the trust vote in Bihar's assembly last week, Kumar dismissed Modi's appeal as hype generated by corporations.

Modi as the market-friendly growth messiah and Kumar as the poster boy of the welfare state may have made for an extremely absorbing contest in 2014 but for the sobering fact that their actual performance belies such characterizations. In a two-part series, we compare growth and development indicators of the two states over 20 years following the liberalization of India's economy in 1991, when the entire nation grew at its fastest pace in history. In the first part, we examine growth indicators to find that Kumar outscores Modi when it comes to delivering on growth. In the second part, we examine a broader range of indicators, which indicate that Gujarat's growth under Modi has been far more inclusive than Bihar's under Kumar.

The accompanying chart shows that Gujarat's economic growth in 2001-2011 at an annual average rate of 10.2% was 2.5 percentage points higher than the national average. A closer look at the chart shows that Gujarat's growth in the prior decade—before Modi took charge in 2001—at 7.5% also beat the national average, albeit by a slightly smaller margin of 1.4%.

In stark contrast, Bihar's economy limped along at an average annual growth rate of 2.7%, 3.4 percentage points slower than the national average, in 1991-2001. Over the next decade though, Bihar's growth rate trebled to 8.2%, beating the national average for the first time in independent India's history, even though the improvement over the national average was by a small margin. Bihar's turnaround is among the exceptional stories unfolding in India. Kumar can stake claim to this reversal of Bihar's fortunes because Bihar's growth during the precise duration of his term has been even higher. Between 2005—when Kumar took charge of Bihar's government—and 2011, the state grew at an annual pace of 10.9%, beating both the national average and Gujarat's growth rate of 9.6% during this period.

There are those who would like to ascribe the entire turnaround of Bihar's economy to the effect of a low base. But there is little empirical evidence to support the theory that growth rates across Indian states automatically converge. As economists Chetan Ghate (of the Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations) and Stephen Wright (of the University of London) ably demonstrated in a recent Economic and Political Weekly article, there is no evidence of either convergence or of divergence among Indian states over the course of independent India's history.

The growth acceleration in Gujarat seems to owe more to the opening up of the Indian economy than to Modi's rule. To be sure, Modi ensured that the economy did not lose steam by choosing wise economic policies but his performance in driving growth pales in comparison to Kumar.

Russia has mocked Obama by carefully choosing its words ("did not cross the Russian border") and has claimed (like Obama usually does) that they heard about Snowden's movements from the media! Turns out that not crossing the border meant he was in the transit zone.

"I want to say right away that we have nothing to do with Snowden, or with his attitude to the American legal system, or with his movements around the world. He chose his own route, and we found out about it – like most people here – from the media," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference.

I reiterate that Hindus are genuinely free and free from persecution only in America.This is a truly sweet gesture preceding the American Independence day.

Would such a declaration be conceivable in any state of the Indian Union, including BJP ruled Gujarat, in its futile quest of "Sadbhavna"?

Allah Tauba, No!!

And yet, there "Ro Khanna", apparently a person of Indian origin who insists on practising Nehruvian Stalinist negationism,by using the phrase "Indo-American" as opposed to "Hindu-American" to deny the Hindu-Americans their momentof rightful satisfaction.

As if the two were automatically synonymous. Next thing you know and some deracinated creature will insist on using the term "South Asian"!!

It is only a matter of time before a Angana Chatterjee or a Deequack Chopra - gives expression to their incandescent rage against any positive recognition of the Hindu American community.

It was a historic moment for California’s Hindu American community, when the senate floor at the Capitol unanimously passed the resolution on Monday designating October 2013 as Hindu American awareness and appreciation month...,....

“It’s great to see that the contribution the Indo-American community is making is now being recognised at the highest levels of the state,” Ro Khanna, former deputy assistant secretary at the US department of commerce in the Obama administration and 2014 Congressional candidate from California district 17 told rediff.com. He said that the Indo-American community was contributing to the economy by creating jobs in California, through entrepreneurship and innovation.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Remarks on the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Remarks John Kerry Secretary of State New Delhi, India

June 23, 2013

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AMBASSADOR POWELL: (In Hindi) Good evening. A very big thank you to all of you for joining us tonight for this very special occasion. It's my pleasure to welcome Secretary Kerry back to India, and to recognize his 28 years of service as a senator, in which he played a very important role in promoting our U.S.-India bilateral relationship, including heading up a Congressional trade mission at the time our economic relations were starting to bloom, as well as an important voice both here in India and in the United States on behalf of the Civil Nuclear Agreement.

It is now my pleasure to welcome Secretary of State John F. Kerry. Thank you, sir. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Good evening, everybody. I apologize for being a moment late. (In Hindi) And I'm happy to be here with everybody. Thank you. Ambassador Powell, thank you very much for a generous introduction. And most importantly, thank you for your leadership of our mission here, and for your commitment to strengthening the relationship between our two great nations.

It is a pleasure for me to be back. The Ambassador mentioned my previous trips here. It's a great pleasure for me to be back here in Delhi, and to be surrounded by the special energy of this city, and to be reintroduced to the great architecture, the natural beauty, and to see familiar places and friends. I was just able to meet with my friend, Dr. Pachauri, Nobel Laureate, and we thank him for his extraordinary work. And thank you all for a warm welcome here.

On behalf of the United States, let me begin by expressing my condolences. I was reading the newspapers as we were coming in here, and I express my condolences for the tragedy that saddens us all, the heartbreaking loss of lives and of homes, the extraordinary act of these floods, of the deluge that stormed through the very beautiful Himalayan foothills in the state of Uttarakhand. And I want you all to know that our thoughts and prayers are very much with the families that are mourning and especially to those who still also have people missing. And the United States, through USAID, has provided an initial $150,000, not the hugest sum in the world, but it is a beginning in terms of help, and we will continue to provide help. And NGOs are helping families in remote areas that are affected by this disaster. And I promise you we stand ready to provide whatever additional assistance we can, or that your government decides that it needs.

Perhaps in some ways, it struck me reading the reports, that perhaps Mother Nature, in her own way, is telling us to heed some warnings, yet again. If you look at the United States, we see massive floods and fires and tornadoes. It's a different time, and we'll talk a little bit about that later.

Throughout time, poets, philosophers, and travelers of all types have come through here, and they have all have marveled at the diversity of your land, of your languages, your people and their talents. And when the great American writer Mark Twain visited here at the end of the 19th century, he called India the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition. But I think you and I know that the real magic of India lies as much in the promising future, in the excitement about the future, as it does in any rich heritage.

I think the magic is found in the sense that I have every time I have returned to India. Every time I come here, I feel like I'm setting foot in a different country, certainly different from the one I was in before. Today's India is very different from the one I last visited five years ago, and that was different than that I came to right in the aftermath of the 26/11 attack when I went to Mumbai. That was an India that was vastly different than the India of 10 years ago, and far different from the one that I saw that Nancy Powell referred to a moment ago, when I came here to Delhi and Mumbai and Bangalore nearly 20 years ago on what I believe was the United States Senate's first Congressional formal trade delegation. And I came here in the early 1990s with a group of government leaders and Indian American businessmen very shortly after then-Finance Minister Singh set in motion historic economic reforms that would again change the trajectory of this dynamic country. And it was about that time, I think, that India began to look very differently at its own place and its own evaluation of its future. And it began to gain a prominence in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region and the world. And that was when it began to adopt this notion of Look East, a Look East policy that would reshape the lens through which all of you would look at your own neighborhood.

Today, my friends, I believe that just as we are living in a changing world, so we cannot, and we must not, forget that we are living on, quite literally, a changing planet. To respond in a way that does justice to science and to facts, what we need actually is a policy that looks forward. To build on our common values and common interests and to seize the common possibilities that lie ahead of us, to do justice to our responsibility for history, for life itself, the world's largest democracy and the world's oldest democracy must do more together, uniting not as a threat to anyone, not as a counterweight to some region or to other countries, but unite as partners building a strong, smart future in a critical age.

Now, one of India and America's strongest shared traditions is our love and our skill, our affection, for innovation. Indian Americans make up just one percent of our population in the United States, but they create eight percent of all the technology and engineering start-ups. Our two countries share a common DNA that compels us to look towards the horizon and think about the next generation. And if we're going to fulfill our responsibility to those who follow us, which is, I think, a fundamental moral responsibility for everybody, then we have to tap into that tradition of ingenuity and initiative. And we have to work now, quickly, urgently, to write a history that is worthy of the future. It's in our power. The question is, will we exercise it?

In no uncertain terms, that is why the partnership between India and the United States is in fact more important than ever. And I don't just mean how our governments work together. That's not what I'm saying. I mean how we, all of us, harness the energy of our entrepreneurs, our scientists, our students, our citizens, and we join together to build our nations, and at the same time meet the great challenges of our time. As the Hindi proverb asks, "Ek aur ek gyarah hote hei." Did I get that right? (Applause.) "One and one make 11," just for my friends over here. (Laughter.)

I am convinced that together, we are uniquely positioned and uniquely equipped to take on the toughest challenges of our time, challenges that regard opportunity, security, and don't cringe when I say this, but it's real: even survival. As we look forward to the dimensions that will actually define our relationship, it's a relationship that President Obama has rightly said will define the next century. Those three challenges that I just talked about actually each present a question: What shape will the future of our economies take? What shape will the future of our security take? And in what condition will we leave the health of the fragile planet that we share?

The health of our planet, let me deal with that first, because the irreversible climate change that is speeding toward us, crying out for a global solution, is really the place to begin this conversation this evening. I have raised this concern in my travels as Secretary of State in every stop I have made, in the far reaches of the Arctic Circle, in sub-Sahara Africa, in Beijing, in Tokyo. For years, as Patch, as we call him fondly, Dr. Pachauri knows, I have been working on this in the United States, with others, where for over 20 years we all know we haven't been able to do all that we want to do, for a number of different reasons. As you know, and as he said so eloquently so many times, President Obama is absolutely committed to ambitious change in order to meet this challenge, to work with our partners around the world, to help the most vulnerable, and to move toward a global compact, as he said, and as he said last week in Berlin, before it is too late.

From the hearings that I took part in with Al Gore back in 1987, the first hearings ever in the United States Senate on the subject of climate change, through the Rio Earth Summit that I attended, through Copenhagen, Kyoto, and many debates in between, I have watched in dismay while responsible people act irresponsibly, ignoring science and fact. This is an issue that is personal to the many people who've worked on it, like Dr. Pachauri, people who have invested time and reputation in order to try to get ahead of the curve.

I know that India is well aware of the grave threat that this global crisis poses. Yours is already one of the most severely affected nations. And unfortunately, the worst consequences of the climate crisis will confront people who are the least able to be able to cope with them. And I emphasize the imperative for us is to act forcefully and cooperatively on climate change, not because it's about ideology, but because it is about science. And here in India, the home of so much of the history of science, we must recognize that today the science of climate change is screaming at us for action.

Just last month, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere passed a significant and frightening threshold, 400 parts of greenhouse gases per million, a level that has never before been experienced by man in terms of carbon. We are the first human beings ever to live in these conditions. And guess what? We got there faster than any scientist predicted that we would.

Just last week, the World Bank reported that within the next generation that same warming atmosphere could actually lead to widespread water and food shortages, historic heat waves, prolonged droughts, more intense flooding. And India, I regret to tell you, is a candidate, a prime target, for all four. India helps feed the world, producing much of its wheat. But extreme heat could actually cut in half yields of the most productive areas, wreaking havoc on global food prices.

The bottom line is, my friends, we don't have time to waste. We have an urgent need to connect the dots here. When the desert is creeping into East Africa, and ever more scarce resources push farmers and herders into deadly conflict, where people are already, in parts of the world, fighting over water, then this is a matter of shared security for all of us. When we face major threats from extreme weather events of the kind that were predicted by climate science, including in my country, we all have to act. When the Himalayan glaciers are receding, threatening the very supply of water to almost a billion people, we all need to do better.

Now, I'll say right up front I do understand, and I fully sympathize with the notion that India's paramount commitment to development and eradicating poverty is essential. I understand that. And nothing that I advocate, nothing that we advocate, those of us who believe we can respond to this challenge, would shortchange that one iota. But we have to recognize that a collective failure to meet our collective climate challenge would inhibit all countries' dreams of growth and development. All countries have a different and unique history and national circumstance. And heading off this crisis is going to depend on working together, and on each of us doing our part.

Here's the good news. And there is good news. The good news is that if we do this right, it's not going to hurt our economies; it actually grows them. It won't deny our children opportunity; it will actually create new ones. The new energy market can be the biggest market ever seen on earth. It's a $6 trillion market with 4 billion users. And its fastest growing segment by far is clean energy. Compare that, for a moment. In the 1990s, when a lot of people grew a lot of wealth, that came from a $1 trillion market with only 1 billion users, and that was the high-tech computer revolution. This market is six times bigger and hundred thousand times more important.

Today, the population of India is soaring, and electricity demand is rising along with that increasing population. But the number of Indians who lack access to electricity is roughly the same as the entire population of the United States. Combating climate change and reducing energy poverty are actually two interconnected challenges that cannot be separated. Access to energy is the essential ingredient of economic development. You can't create jobs in the dark.

So this is not just about air and water and weather. This is about jobs. It's about economy. It's about growth. And as we look forward, India and the United States, with our traditions of innovation and our tradition of technology creation, we are particularly well-positioned together to ready ourselves and roll up our sleeves and take advantage of this opportunity. And if anyone can succeed at this, it is us. Why? Because the entrepreneurial spirit of India, just like that of the United States, is one that thrives on new opportunities. Indian immigrants to America worked and saved over a lifetime in order to climb up the economic ladder, not so their children could just start all over again, but so they could stand on a platform of opportunity. Staring us in the face today is one of the greatest economic opportunities of all time. It's called clean energy. And I emphasize the dynamic, forward-looking India of today is not going to find its energy mix in the 19th century or the 20th century solutions. It won't find it in the coal mines. India's destiny requires finding a formula in the 21st century that will power it into the 22nd. I believe that, working together, India and the United States can make this leap, and it would be to our benefit and to the whole world's.

We're already taking new, cooperative steps together all the time. I want to thank India for hosting the Clean Energy Ministerial here in Delhi – in New Delhi in April. And with Energy Secretary Moniz, who joins me here for this dialogue we will have in the next day and a half, we are committed to working with all nations towards a clean-energy economy. The clean energy partnership that President Obama and Prime Minister Singh launched in 2009 doesn't just speak to the strength of our bilateral relationship. It's actually proof positive that among our businesses and our universities and NGOs, we actually can mobilize billions in public and private resources to deploy energy that lights streets and cities and indeed lights the way towards the future.

This week USAID – and our head of USAID Raj Shah is here for this dialogue – they're launching a loan guarantee program to support a private equity firm in Mumbai that will help mobilize at least $100 million in private sector financing for clean energy in India. We're also announcing a new effort to significantly enhance the efficiency of India's air conditioners, which is a rapidly growing source of greenhouse gases.